Coming of Age
by Sepapa
Summary: Set in MangaVerse/FMA:B. Long after the Promised Day, Edward's son decides to obtain his own silver watch.
1. Chapter 1

" Dad." Ed paid no heed to the voice as all his attention was poured into the task of fixing the broken shingles on the roof. Since Risembool was open land, the wind here was sharp and cutting. It was one of the inconveniences to living in the countryside but Ed didn't mind, he grew up here after all. In fact, this task seemed to have fit right in his normal routine of roof-top gazing, a habit he picked up after The Promised Day.

"_Dad_..." The voice repeated, this time an exasperated sigh accompanying it. The sigh worked; it lured him out of his concentration. Ed snapped his eyes to his son, Alex.

Alex was not yet a man, but not a boy either but he did not carry the teenager title well-a young adult, perhaps? Well, he was seventeen.

It was so strange to be a father, Ed had to admit. He was old now, almost pushing forty! So everytime he looked at son, he saw the reflection of his youth. To be fair, Alex is undoubtedly Alex, but man was the resemblance uncanny. His son did have a bad temperament ( which Ed argues that it could have been inherited from Winry, not him).

" Good timing, I could use a hand." He flashed a smile at a pair of rolling eyes. The young man crawled up to where his father sat, on the middle of the roof. There was a biting remark but it was too soft to hear so Ed let it slide.

" Actually." Ed gazed into the red sky with a soft smile on his face before turning his attention to Alex.

" What?" His son grumpily asked, probably bitter that he was the one sent up to retrieve his father.

"I think I'll take a break, what's up Little Al?" He asked.

" _Come on_. Al's just fine. It's not like Uncle is here to cause confusion, either." The snapping fury on his son's face made Ed's smile grow wider.

" Sorry, it's just that you two grow up so fast. Old habits die hard." Though, he would never admit out loud that his son had more class than he did when handling his height insecurities.

" Whatever. Anyway. Mom has a surprise for you so she told me to get you." Alex squirmed a little, Ed noticed, like if he were hiding something or lying. Then, with the message sent, Alex started to make his leave.

He paused and said, " She says if you keep daydreaming any longer, she'll come up here with her special wrench. Old man."

Ed paled at this, the image of his death playing before his eyes. Death had more weight than a petty insult thrown at him. Then he scrambled to his feet, and as if he were like a cat, he gracefully moved past his son who was crawling towards the latter.

He wondered what the surprise would be.

...

* * *

" What do you mean Alex wants to become a State Alchemist!?" Ed yelled, his gold eyes bulging out of their sockets in disbelief. Winry, like always, put her hands to her waist and met his relentless glare head on.

"I don't understand the confusion, Edward." She said.

With a heavy sigh, he broke his gaze with his wife and shifted it to his son. Alex shrunk back into his chair,while Mina, his daughter, sent assuring glances.

" Alex. Tell me why." He asked, forcing to keep his voice level.

"Because," He twiddled his fingers. " I really want to."

" Because you want to," He felt his eye twitch in disbelief, " You want to throw your life away? There are other things, better things in life than that! " Edward watched both his son and daughter recoil at the harshness of his voice that trademarked his anger so well.

"No," Alex said softly," It's just... I've always wanted to be great like The Fullmetal Alchemist." His son leveled his eyes with his, and there again Ed saw a fire burning.

Winry moved closer to her son, not bothering to spare a glance at the dumbstruck Edward.

He was the Fullmetal Alchemist, keyword: was. But Ed was lucky. And yes, he owed it to the Colonel. No matter how much of a bastard that man was, he still treated Ed and Al right especially considering the Colonel's understanding in what the taboo he and Al committed long ago.

Would his son be so lucky to be placed in trusting arms?

He carved a legacy. To those who didn't know about the Truth, which was just about everyone, he was revered as a boy genius. Alex would have to live up to those unrealistic expectations.

There was a standstill, and the room paused. Even the sound of breathing had hitched and any commotion outside was numbed. Was he being the irrational one here? Alex was seventeen after all, he couldn't just baby him. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully like he always did when the gears in his head started spinning. His family watched him tentatively.

"Fine. I'm sure with Mustang in charge it can't be _that_ bad." Alex smiled.

"Thanks, dad. I'll make you proud."

Edward hoped he didn't make a huge mistake.


	2. Chapter 2

It's been two days since the big announcement. Or surprise, whatever you call it.

Edward sighed as he laid in their bed. Winry was off pulling another allnighter, crafting exquisite works of automail. For a time when Ed and Al were on their separate ways, Ed recalled Winry spent months in Rush Valley; she had accumulated a healthy amount of fame. Then she returned to Risembool and set up shop. It gave Winry great pleasure that she was able to make good cash in the home Pinako had left her.

The saying goes, 'home is where the heart is', and Winry is no exception.

Her heart laid here.

The blankets twisted as Edward turned to his side, facing the window. Ed crossed these thoughts every night since he lay his roots here. Here. A place where photos filled the walls, where there'd be the thick smell of delicious apple pie wafting in the air and laughter ringing in the halls, a place to call home-his.

But before those revelations, the thoughts that he crossed had lead him starstruck about the 'what ifs'.

For a long time Ed struggled walking on a tightrope, trying to keep himself balanced. Teetering between rebuilding or leaving the burnt remains as is. After all, burning down his former home was the resolve to push him forward and to run away from the faults he committed. Now with Al's body back, he didn't need that reminder. His heart disagreed to the notion of it all, it demanded that the former property of Trisha Elric and Van Hohenheim would forever be just a foundation, a memorial.

Edward was an elementary school teacher and during the summer he was free. In those months, the former State Alchemist would find himself standing at their old hill, rubbing his once automail arm. The first time they found him, he'd been gone for five hours and found by his youngest, Mina. At first, no one found it worrisome until he kept doing it. Winry asked cautiously if he wanted to move, they would rebuild and all live there. He couldn't do that to her. Her heart was here.

Mina never came to retrieve him after that one occurrence, it was always his son, thirteen, who went.

When the two were in front of the grave of Ed's house Alex was always quiet. Always uncharacteristically soft spoken in contradiction to his usual demeanor. When Ed was his age he was always loud no matter the situation-loud clothing, loud actions, loud everything and he was still loud today. That's the way he worked, operated and breathed. In Ed's final visitation, however, Alex spoke up.

..

* * *

_" Dinner's ready." His son said aloud, carelessly._

_" Sorry, I guess I drifted off there again." Ed rubbed the back of his head._

_" It's okay, I don't care."_

_" Oh, so you don't hmmm?" Ed ruffled his son's hair who snapped away from the unwanted touch. Ed laughed._

_" Mina and Mom get scared, but that's because they don't get it." He said._

_" And you get it?" Ed asked, Alex's scowl flipped,"Profoundly."_

_" Oh yea? What is this revelation you so deeply know?" _

_" Mina is always scared that you'll run away, that's why I don't let her go, she'd just slime you with her paranoia."_

_" Be nice to your sister." _

_" I think Mom's different, and I don't know Mom's reason for being worried but..." Ed inspected his son's face as he trailed off. _

_"But...?"_

_" No matter where you are,if you're gone or you run away, you'll always be our dad." He grinned. Ed's own smile faltered._

_" Do you think I'm a good father?" Alex gave him an incredulous look. " Why wouldn't you be? Jeez, that was a weird question. My dad was the Fullmetal Alchemist, after all."_

_For the rest of their walk, they stayed in silence. Edward thought about Hohenheim, their mother and the hopeful thought that Winry baked apple pie for dessert. _

_.._

* * *

That was that. Edward never visited again and found much more productive tasks. His son's words, maybe not insights, had engraved themselves into him for four years. So when he was in this position, tangled in his bed and Winry-less, he found his comfort in that.

He was a good father.

He prided himself on that, he did. Right now however, he didn't feel like a good father. Alex would leave for Central early in the morning by train and stay with Alphonse. They called up the night before, and Al shared everyone else's excitement. Ed felt a pang of betrayal at that.

He was not ready for tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey guys, this story is kind of me writing what comes to mind. I have a very loose outline of what is supposed to happen but I'd LOVE to hear suggestions to develop on. I don't write prose a lot so it's very rough. Also if you see any recurring mistakes in my writing, I'd like to hear that too. Anyway, I'll probably keep most chapters short because I have a really small attention span! Thanks for reading, I really love Fullmetal Alchemist.

By the way, do you guys want to see a drawing of an Alex and Mina Elric? Because in the next chapter I can show you guys!

* * *

Two scrambled eggs, salted and peppered with a dash of cinnamon, that's the way Alex preferred them. She knew how much salt, pepper and cinnamon to dust on, a quiet feat that she prided herself with. For some reason unlike her daughter, her son despised bacon with the same passion that Ed loathed milk. Like instead of calling it 'bacon', it would be replaced by other colorful titles. So she cooked sausage patties instead of bacon for him. At least bacon was just comfort food, nothing really nutritious about it.

" Alex sit down when you eat." Winry said, cracking another egg on the pan.

" Sorry mom, too excited." He said between gulps, how that boy didn't choke was beyond her.

" Sit down and enjoy your breakfast." She said with a little more force than intended. Mina, who had been quiet the whole morning, finally broke her silence by giggling. "Yea, the train doesn't come until noon anyway." She chimed in.

" Shut up Mina you're not even involved." Alex barked back, nearly choking on a biscuit.

Winry slid two sunny side-up eggs onto the plate with three strips of bacon for her newest arrival. The floorboards creaked unevenly under the weight of the steel prosthetic and the flesh limb. To anyone else the noise would go unnoticed but Winry had ears of a bat. By the sound of it, the automail leg was a few pounds heavier than his normal leg. But it was okay, nothing damaging like years ago. The metals used to craft the limbs were a mix of different alloys smelted together, an insight she found those twenty years ago in Rush Valley and later, Briggs.

" Yea! Why am I not involved?" Mina turned her attention to Edward whose silhouette filled the door frame, "When you were an alchemist you had Uncle Al!"

Their father didn't appear to be aware of his daughter's inquiries as he moved to his chair.

" Mina, Uncle Al was probably not a crybaby." Alex snipped, finally taking his place in the chair next to his half-awake father.

" I am not a crybaby. Last time I cried was when I was eight-I'm sixteen!" She snapped back at Alex but the force behind the words lacked genuine passion. Among these type of bickering the two exchanged looks as if there was a hidden joke only they understood. These events, however, were a blessing in disguise (no matter how annoying it became). In a serious fight, Mina could pull some hard swings and Ed, if late to stop their quarreling, sometimes found Alex completely unconscious with a(n optional) busted nose. And nevermind if they started using blunt objects.

Mina always won.

" Yet you still cry when there's a spider in the shower." Really, those words Alex quipped was just a bunch of bravado. Everyone, including the sheep, knew that that Alex was just throwing up an act. He used to be so sweet when he was younger which earned him the title of 'Little Al'. Somewhere down the road Alex took up the mantle of bad temper and spoiled attitude ( or maybe it was a latent Elric gene). At first it was brushed off as a phase but their son really grew into that skin. Sweet Alex became but a soft breeze behind those gale-force blue eyes. On the bright side, he loved milk even though it didn't help him with his height challenges.

" I so do not cry, I _scream_."

" The fear is all the same." Alex crossed his arms while Mina started to stab her food. Stabby stab.

" Alex stop picking on your sister, you're supposed to be the older brother. Mina, I thought you wanted to be an automail mechanic?" Edward groggily said, thoughtlessly rubbing the stubble on his chin. Usually whenever Ed pulled the 'older brother' card, it dampened the spirit of fight in Alex if not wash it out completely.

" But-" They both said in unison.

" And Mina, finish your food before it gets cold." Winry interjected.

" We're all fired up this morning, aren't we?" Edward said, finally rubbing the last specks of sleep out his eyes. There were two pitchers: one half-filled with fresh milk and the other of orange juice. The orange juice was his first choice and to anyone who knew him, the only choice.

'Jeez Edward, are you sure that Alex is ahead of his years?' Winry sent off telepathically, hoping he would understand her glare which he was currently blinking owlishly at. Finally seating herself down at the table. The four of them as a family ate breakfast together.

" Wow, I see who's the favorite," She whispered to Alex, returning to their earlier argument, "Now you have to take me."

" Again, I thought you wanted to follow after your mom?" Edward had ears of a bat too. There was food half-chewed in his mouth while he asked that question, well at least Winry knows where Alex gets it.

" I do but knowing Alex he might lose an arm or a leg by doing something dumb, _if he gets accepted_." Mina joked, oblivious to the irony of those words. Their children were purposely unaware that Ed once had an automail arm. Both of them resolved that they would never speak of human transmutation to their children, unless the circumstances were dire enough. Winry and her husband had been so cautious as to keep any photos of Ed during those times locked away. Any mementos of that time usually had his arms covered by his red jacket or his under jacket. It would be difficult to explain, humans don't regrow limbs. Even the military had been kind enough to not release any type of controversial images for the public eye, but that was probably considering the events that transpired during The Promised day. Not to mention, it was mostly Mustang's team that had enforced it.

But despite of that, a can of worms was already twisted open!

You know, no one gives you a parenthood manual when you get pregnant. All of them knew how cruel the world could be and no one wants someone so innocent to ever get the taste of it. There is no automail blueprint or an alchemy book to guide you across the seas of challenges in raising a child. Childbirthing was only the beginning: now you have an entire fragile life in your hands and you better not mess it up. That's why Winry understood her son's ambition to leave for the exam.

And her husband's aching fear of it.

It was when the kids were nestled a little ways into the school system. Of course word would float around. They found out about their father and his brother's involvement in alchemy. It would be stupid to say the Elric brothers weren't well known-they were freaking famous and there was proof. Alot of proof.

Loose ends were a given no matter how hard you tried to tie them up. More questions were asked about what their parents did to achieve status than anything else; questions upon questions that eventually had them unravel some of the truth. It was strange that their children believed strangers over them, especially when Ed couldn't perform alchemy anymore. Maybe it had to do something with Al. They still managed to keep the arm fiasco hidden,and directly, the whole taboo act a secret. See, they played off Ed losing his leg as an accident. Good thing they also never questioned the excuse that Al had a hobby of wearing armor.

" If I do lose a leg that means I'll be the second Fullmetal Alchemist!" Her two spawn cackled.

" Yea but you wouldn't have the child-prodigy-ness to back you up." Winry knew Mina believed that her brother was a genius but not a prodigy. As a mother, Winry believed that he would definitely show those proctors up and pass the exam. When Alex broke the news to his father, Ed needed to see proof that his son wasn't going to make a fool of himself. Though, those assumptions were poured down the drain when they all saw what Alex could do. Another quiet feat- one which Winry had been secretly supporting since Alex came to her with big dreams of becoming an alchemist. Her secret weapon was Alphonse. They spent years preparing him up for the state exam without her husband's knowledge. Ed was sharp, but Winry was sly as a fox. See, she knew that Ed was anxious that they might have high expectations of their son like performing alchemy without an array.

Edward was afraid that Alex would pass the exam. Winry on the other hand was afraid that Ed would not let their children grow up-he'd find ways of protecting them from the World. She knew where Ed was coming from, he had more say than anything else. But Winry wanted Alex and Mina to experience.

" I would know the perfect model for you, Alex." Winry chimed in. This was the only family in Amestris that would joke about losing appendages.

" So Al, what's gonna be your State Alchemist codename?" Mina asked excitedly.

" I want to be called something cool, but nothing beats dad's title." Alex matched his sister's intensity.

" Did you come up with anything yet?"

" You don't choose your title, it's given by the Fuhrer King." Edward interjected plainly.

There was an 'oh' from Mina and a grumpy 'that's lame' from Alex. Winry shot another glare at Edward who continued to chew his bacon.

* * *

The train arrived a half hour late. Alex grumbled to himself, sliding so far down the hard, wooden bench that Edward had to scold him a few times about his fixing posture. Alex was excited to see the steam of the train as the locomotive rolled in. He exchanged his goodbyes with his father. Alex already went over the mushy gooey stuff at the house with Mina and his mom, but his dad insisted to wait with him at the station. Which made things awkward.

Alex fell asleep in the train ride since it stopped being exciting after the first hour. Four more hours to go and he'd be in Central with Uncle Al.

Little did he know that mom and dad planned that Mina would be joining him.

Not as an alchemist, of course.


End file.
